Feud over Bairnsdale drag strip drags on

By Rhiana Whitson (ABC Gippsland )

Members of the Bairnsdale Motorsport Club ripped up their bitumen drag strip near the Bairnsdale Aerodrome on the weekend. The club's members say they don't want to be held liable for any future mishaps on the track.

The club has held the lease at the Bairnsdale site for about 40 years.

The club lost the tender to run its events at the drag strip and will have to move out at the end of the month.

A spokesman for the committee, Peter Cadby, says the club has been running events at the site for 40 years.

He says the track is being removed for safety and liability reasons.

"We asked if we were going to be reimbursed for our assets. They flatly refused and told us we could either try to sell them to the new lessee or we could remove them from [the] site and that's what we're in the process of doing now, we're removing all our assets from the site," he said.

Bairnsdale Motorport Club treasurer John Fletcher confirmed that the club decided to remove the bitumen because they were concerned they would be liable for future accidents on the track.

East Gippsland Shire Council chief executive Steve Kozlowski says the group was entitled to remove the bitumen.

However, he says there are concerns a taxi way, which the club is legally required to keep intact has been damaged.

The East Gippsland Shire will meet again next week to assess the damages.